Mbappe nets hat-trick as Real Madrid roar past Manchester City
FRONT AND CENTRE: Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid celebrates scoring his team's third goal and his hat trick. Pic: David Ramos/Getty Images
15-time winners and current holders Real Madrid cruised past Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City 3-1 (agg. 6-3) to end the Manchester outfit’s European dreams and knock them out of the Champions League for the third time in four seasons.
Kylian Mbappé stole the show, netting his first Champions League hat-trick for the club, ensuring Real’s bid to defend their title lives another day.
Los Blancos, who hold the record for the most Champions League trophies won, were in no mood to exit the competition before the knockout stages, dominating the game from start to finish to spare their blushes after a consistently inconsistent and underwhelming campaign in the competition thus far.
The defeat gives Pep Guardiola’s side yet another early exit from the Champions League, with the FA Cup becoming increasingly likely to be the Manchester outfit’s only real chance at silverware this season.
The home side wasted no time in getting off the mark at the Bernabéu and taking the lead the lead through a most impressive finish from the in-form Kylian Mbappé within four minutes of kick-off.
A sensational pass over the top of the visitor’s high line from Asencio was moments after matched with a similarly sensational finish from the Frenchman, lifting the ball over Ederson and into the Manchester City net to give Real Madrid a two-goal advantage in the tie and City a mountain to climb.
Things quickly went from bad to worse for the visitors, as not four minutes after conceding, John Stones was forced off with an injury in what proved a nightmare opening 10 minutes for Pep Guardiola and his side.
Los Blancos soon settled into a period of dominance on the ball, offering the visitors little opportunity to even entertain the thought of mounting a comeback.
It took less than half an hour for Mbappé to add more insult to injury; as following a most impressive team move the Frenchman slotted the ball into the bottom corner for his second of the evening, all but putting Manchester City’s Champions League dreams to an end within a 33-minute period.
The first 45 minutes offered little encouragement for Pep Guardiola and City, with the visitors not managing to amass even one shot on target in the opening period.
Following January signing Omar Marmoush’s hat-trick against Newcastle in the Premier League last Saturday, Guardiola would have hoped the Egyptian would be able to fill the boots of the missing Erling Haaland, who was said not to be fit enough to feature in the starting eleven following a knock he picked up in the previous matchday.
The second half brought no respite for the Manchester outfit, as the invigorated Madrileños began the second period bursting at the seems with confidence, flair, and free-flowing football.
Good things come in threes, following yet another period of sustained pressure from the home side, Mbappé completed his hat-trick moments after the hour mark.
With a superb left-footed finish into the bottom corner, Mbappé became the fourth player to manage a hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League (after Lionel Messi, Christopher Nkunku and Viktor Gyokeres).
The visitors’ nightmare was finally put to an end when the Frenchman was replaced by Brahim Diaz in the 78th minute, with Mbappé exiting the field of play with a standing ovation from the entirety of the Bernabéu.
With Real having all but secured safe passage to the round of 16, the visitors were finally afforded a spell of possession in the final minutes of the game, though mounting a four-goal comeback seemed an all but impossible task by this time.
A 92nd minute tap-in from January signing Nico González gave the visiting Manchester City fans something to cheer for, though it offered nothing more than a consolation with the result of the tie having been decided long before.
The final whistle brought an end to Pep Guardiola’s Champions League dream, or rather Champions League nightmare.
Carlo Ancelotti remarked in the lead-up to the tie that Real Madrid versus Manchester City had become a ‘modern classic’, and while the first leg in Manchester indeed lent itself to this narrative, the second was far from a ‘classic’ by any definition of the word.
It was a case of men against boys from start to finish, and Pep Guardiola will have to quickly rally his players for Sunday’s Premier League clash versus top of the table Liverpool if they stand a chance of returning to Champions League action next season.
Courtois 7, Valverde 8 (Alaba 90), Rüdiger 7, Asencio 7, Mendy 6, Tchouaméni 7 (Modric 83), Ceballos 6 (Camavinga 78), Bellingham 6, Rodrygo 8, Mbappé 10 (Brahim Diaz 78), Vinicius Jr 6 (Endrick 90).
Ederson 4, Khusanov 6, Stones 5 (Aké 8), Dias 5, Gvardiol 5, Nico 7, Gundogan 6 (Kovacic 77), Bernardo Silva 5, Foden 6 (McAtee 77), Savinho 5, Marmoush 5.
István Kovács 7
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